41 



16/ IMPROVING THE ALLOCATION PROCESS 



• Which fields must attain or maintain preeminence, based on goals such as 

 economic importance, national securirv', imusual opportunity for significant discov- 

 eries, global resource or environmental issues, control of disease, mitigation of 

 natural disasters, food production, a presidential initiative (such as human space- 

 flight), or an unanticipated crisis: 



• Which fields require increases in funding, changes in direction, restructur- 

 ing, or other actions to achieve these goals; and 



• Which fields have excess capacity (e.g., are producing too many new inves- 

 tigators, have more laboratories or facilities than needed) relative to national needs 

 and international benchmarks. 



The committee believes that designing the budget process so as to secure an 

 FS&T budget sufficient to ensure preeminence in select fields and world status in 

 others will allow the United States to maintain continued world leadership. The 

 FS&T budget process must be coupled to systematic review of investments by the 

 nation s best scientific and technical experts, reporting to the highest reaches of 

 government, to produce an appropriately balanced mix of activities. The committee 

 emphasizes that wise federal investments will lead to the creation of new wealth in 

 the future to an even greater extent than they have in the past. As a result, these 

 investments will help reduce the federal deficit in the long run. After a period of 

 budget constraints, reconfiguration, and adjustment, national needs may justif\- 

 increased investments in FS&T. 



RECOMMENDATION 5- The United States should pursue interna- 

 tional cooperation to share costs, to tap into the world's best 

 science and technology, and to meet national goals. 



International cooperation is most clearly appropriate for large and expensive 

 facilities such as high-energy accelerators and nuclear fusion facilities; for projects 

 requiring coordinated research programs, such as many in oceanography as well as 

 studies of global climate change; and for cross-national comparisons of health, 

 education, and economic development. 



Science is a global enterprise in which the United States must participate, for 

 its own benefit and for that of the world. The scientific and engineering communi- 

 ties in the United States benefit from ideas and technologies developed all over the 

 world; indeed, to remain world-class, the nation's scientists and engineers must be 

 in touch with researchers around the globe. The United States also has important 

 contributions to make in addressing the major problems of developing countries, 

 such as disease, malnutrition, and overpopulation. In contributing to international 

 scientific and technical collaborations and exchanges, enhancing free trade in ideas, 

 and addressing major problems, the United States can contribute to improvements 

 in the quality' of life and pace of development in many countries. Ultimately, these 

 efforts should also help expand global economic markets. 



